Brennan Ward set to retire from MMA after Bellator 207 withdrawal

After pulling out of Bellator 207 due to an undisclosed injury, Brennan Ward has decided to retire from MMA competition.

MMAjunkie today learned from a Bellator official that Ward (14-6 MMA, 9-6 BMMA) has informed the promotion of his intent to hang up his gloves from the sport.

Ward was scheduled to fight Andre Fialho at Bellator 207 in October, but had to withdraw over the weekend. Ward hasn’t fought since August 2017, and apparently the latest setback was the final straw.

The 30-year-old suffered a third-round submission loss to Fernando Gonzalez in his most recent bout more than a year ago at Bellator 182. Prior to that fight, Ward was caught with a highlight-reel knockout against Paul Daley at Bellator 170 in January 2017.

Ward’s last victory came at Bellator 163 in November 2016 when he scored a first-round knockout of Saad Awad. The stoppage result was part of the great narrative of Ward’s career, which saw him go to the scorecards just once in 20 career bouts.

During his Bellator tenure along, Ward earned nine wins by knockout or submission. Those nine finishes rank third in company history behind Michael Chandler (11) and Patricio Freire (10).

Ward has yet to publicly comment on his decision to retire.

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